I spent time at the Manet show at The Royal Academy last week, based on a really slim understanding of his work I’d been looking forward to this one.

I’ve seen the Berthe Morisot portrait often enough, and his Music In The Tuilleries Gardens is an of it’s time celebridee group portrits that foreshadows Vanity Fair magazine cover shots by about 130 years. What else did i know? That the Impressionists credited him with hugely influencing the work they produced and that he revered Diego Velasquez.

Actually, his admiration for Velasquez is what plinked this show on my radar, Diego’s become a touch point for my art appreciation, being the first artist i fell in love with his work has become my personal standard of the sublime. Observing Manet’s expression of old master techniques blended with Velasquez realism was a delight and I realised, that guy knew how to paint, I’m going back for more.